


29: Confused

by love_write_edit_sleep



Series: Child's Play (DBH 31 Fic Challenge) [29]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Running Away, Self-Destruction, this chapter doesnt makes much sense you might have to read twice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-07-08 18:04:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15935537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/love_write_edit_sleep/pseuds/love_write_edit_sleep
Summary: The day has come for Richard to return to his RK900 model, but no-one can find the child android anywhere. Does Richard even want to be found?





	29: Confused

Gavin groaned as his phone rang, tearing him from his sleep.

“What the fuck…?” He muttered, reaching over where Richard was nestled against him and picking up his phone. “‘Lijah, this better be fucking good, bro, or I’m gonna get my morning coffee over your fucking corpse.”

_ “Morbid, much?” _

“Fuck you, what do you want?”

_ “The final piece of the RK900 unit was delivered yesterday. He’s all built, ready for transfer.” _

“What…? Already? Are you serious?” Gavin asked, sitting up in the blanket nest he and Richard had made. Richard whimpered at the loss of warmth, blindly searching for Gavin. “When can we do the transfer?”

_ “Whenever you want. Today, tomorrow, next week.”  _

“Jesus, I gotta ask Rich, it’s his body…”

_ “Sure. Just let me know.” _

“Thanks, bro.” Gavin hung up, laughing from the shock. “Richard?” He turned to the child, nudging him slightly. Richard didn’t move. Gavin tried again, but after getting no response, he shrugged and settled down to go back to sleep.

Richard stared at the wall, thirium pump pounding.

* * *

_ “Gavin!” _

“Wha-?” Gavin jolted awake, only to blink in surprise when he saw Connor leaning over him with worry.

“Gavin, where is Richard?”

“What?” Gavin searched around him in the blanket nest, but Richard wasn’t there. “He was right here! I got a call from Elijah, he was right next to me!”

“What did he call about?” Hank asked.

“He finished piecing Richard’s old body back together.”

“Was Richard awake when you had this conversation?” Connor asked.

“No… I-I don’t think so, why?”

“He was concerned after the pushing incident at the DPD. He said he didn’t want to return to his previous model, he was very distressed about it. If he heard you…”

“I cannot find him!” Matthew burst into the living room. “I have checked all the rooms, he is not here!”

“Can’t you guys track him?” Hank asked.

“No, not unless he sends us a message that we can trace.” Connor explained.

“Why aren’t we all sending him messages then?”

“Because if we all bombard him with messages, he’ll panic. We need to choose one of us, one person he trusts most. Who is most likely to get a response?” 

“That’s me out.” Gavin muttered. “He thinks I won’t like him when he changes back, so he won’t want to talk to me.”

“You guys have been with him since this all started, you’ll have more of a chance.” Hank sighed. Connor and Matthew exchanged a look.

“You’re his brother.” Matthew whispered.

“But you’re his… his best friend, right now…” Connor smiled. “You helped him to be who he is without making him feel ashamed or embarrassed. If anyone can help him right now… it’s you.”

“I agree.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Go for it, Math.”

“Alright…” Matthew nodded. His LED flickered yellow as he sent Richard a message.

_ ‘We are worried about you. May I come and see you?’ _

They waited for a moment, but received no response. He tried again.

_ ‘Please, Richard. I cannot play pretend all by myself…” _

A short moment passed before Matthew’s LED flickered yellow again.

_ ‘Don’t tell them where I am. Pwease.’ _

“I have him.” Matthew whispered. “He does not want me to disclose his location to you.”

“Fuck that, I’m coming too.” Gavin scowled.

“But-”

“He’s my… my Richard, he’s gotta know I care about him.” Gavin blinked. “Look, I’ll stay in the car or something, okay?” Matthew gave in

“Alright.”

* * *

Richard hadn’t gone far. Matthew tracked him to a spot by the river that Hank and Connor had showed him a while back. Matthew spotted the child atop the backrest of the bench and parked the car as close as he could.

“I will be right back.” Matthew whispered. “Stay here until I say.”

“Alright.” Gavin muttered, watching as Matthew left the car. He rolled the window down to listen to the pair.

“Richard…?” Matthew approached the figure slowly. Richard looked up at him.

“Hi…”

“Hey.” Matthew forced a smile as he sat beside the boy. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t know…”

“You scared us. Running away is not a safe thing to do.” Matthew sighed. Richard nodded, but said nothing. “Gavin is here. He insisted. He is in the car.”

“I don’t want him here!” Richard suddenly cried, pushing Matthew hard. The force caused Richard to fall back off the bench, only for Matthew to catch him and pull him back up. Richard turned away.

“Please tell me what is wrong.” 

“I don’t wanna be an adult again! You’re not gonna be my fwiend anymowe and Papa won’t want me and Gabin will swear at me again and leave and Con-Con won’t want to habe fun anymowe and-”

“Richard, slow down! What proof do you have that those things will happen?” Matthew asked. “Things changed, of course they did, but some things are not going to change back just because you are in a different model.”

“They’re not…?”

“No. I will always be your friend, Connor will always be your brother, Hank will always want you, and Gavin will not leave.” 

“No-one liked me befowe this…” Richard sniffed. “I scawed people and was cold-heawted and now I’m small and emotional and people like me mowe like this…”

“Richard…”

“I don’t want you all to hate me again…” Richard choked, wiping his eyes roughly. 

“We never hated you… Oh, Richard…” Matthew pulled the boy close for a hug. “We never hated you… I’m so sorry we made it feel that way… You have always been family… That is not going to change…”

“Richard…?” Richard and Matthew looked up to see Gavin standing sheepishly, still in his pyjamas. “I-if you… If you wanna stay a kid, no-ones gonna blame you… I-I’ll adopt you, okay? W-we can be together that way instead… I-If you want…?”

“But you don’t want a kid…”

“I want  _ you _ . A-and if you being a kid is the only way I can have you with me than I-I’ll do it.” Gavin bit his bottom lip as he tried to fight the burning in his eyes. “Whatever you want to do… I-I’ll support you, okay?”

“Gabin-”

“I don’t want to lose you again, Richard…” Gavin choked, bringing his hand to his eyes to hide the tears that now fell freely down his face. “I  _ can’t  _ lose you again…”

“Gabin…” Richard’s own eyes stung with tears. For a moment, it was silent, Matthew and Richard’s red LED’s standing out in the darkness as Gavin’s sniffles blended with the rustle of the trees in the wind. Silently, Richard clambered down from the bench and reached out for Gavin, who took his hand in his.

“I love you.” Richard whispered.

“I love you too.” Gavin forced a smile. Richard smiled back and pulled away, his LED flickering to yellow.

Then he reached to his chest, pulled out his thirium pump and threw it into the distance. 

“Richard!” Matthew and Gavin both reached out to stop him, both panicking when they realised they were too late. The pump rolled down the path and into the river.

“Richard, what the fuck?!” Gavin cried, shaking the boy, his eyes fixed on the thirium that now spilled from his chest and on Richard’s hands. “What did you do that for?!”

“So I don’t change my mind!” Richard cried. “I want to be me again but I like being a kid but I want to be an adult!”

“So you threw your fucking heart away?!”

“I-I’m gonna shut down… This model won’t wowk anymowe if my thiwium pump isn’t put back in time.” Richard whimpered. “I uploaded my memowy… I-I’m weady.”

“But you’re not!” Gavin cried. “I’ll find the pump, okay? I’ll go get it and we can stay like this if that’s what you want!” He didn’t even wait for a reply before running to the fence.

“Gavin, do not be an idiot!” Matthew cried, holding the trembling child, but Gavin ignored him, jumping into the river. “Gavin!”

“I-I’m sorry…” Richard whimpered. “I-I just… I’m scared…”

“It is going to be alright…” Matthew whispered. “I promise… whatever happens, it is going to be alright…”

“I got it!” Gavin cried, struggling to climb over the railings. He cried out as he fell onto his arm, but picked himself up and ran back to the two, frantically trying to reach them in time, He shoved the pump back into Richard’s chest.

“Richard?!” Gavin waited for something, anything to happen. But it didn’t. He forced himself to look up at Richard’s LED.

It was grey.

“I was too late…” Gavin choked. “Fuck…”

“We should take him to Elijah.” Matthew whispered, tightening his hold on the child as his voice broke. “We-we should… call Con- Connor and Hank… I-I should have monitored his stress levels… I-I…”

“Hey…” Gavin sniffed, resting his forehead against Matthew’s. “It’s okay… We’ll take him, he’ll be okay…”

Matthew didn’t speak, just held Richard to his chest.

* * *

“What happened…?” Elijah asked as he took in the sight of his soaking wet brother, Matthew at his side covered in Richard’s Thirium, the deactivated child android in his arms. Chloe stood in horror.

“He stressed out, took his pump out.” Gavin whispered. “Fucking threw it in the river. I couldn’t get it back in time.”

“He uploaded his memory though, right…?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay…” Elijah gently took the boy from Matthew. “Okay, I’m gonna do the transfer then…”

“Yeah. Um, can I make a request?” Gavin asked, wiping his eyes. Elijah nodded. “Can you find some way to let him keep his imagination…?”

“I’m sure I can do that.” Elijah smiled. “Gimme a half hour. Chloe, can you take them in?”

“Of course, Elijah.” Chloe nodded. “If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to the lounge.”

“Thanks…” Gavin whispered. 

The Detective forced himself to look at Matthew, who was staring down at his thirium covered hands and trembling. A small blue handprint stained Matthew’s shirt just over his heart. Matthew seemed to notice as Gavin did, bringing one hand up to the handprint and biting his bottom lip.

Gavin looked away.

* * *

Connor and Hank arrived shortly after, having been messaged by Matthew about what had happened. Connor was a state, trembling as Hank tried his best to comfort him with his arm around Connor’s shoulders.

Chloe led them through to where Gavin and Matthew were waiting, only to find the two slumped on the sofa, Matthew’s head resting on Gavin’s shoulder, red LED fading in and out to indicate he was in sleep mode.

Gavin brought a finger to his lips to shush them as they sat down, Hank sitting in an armchair opposite Gavin and Matthew, while Connor sat beside Matthew, taking the android and gently guiding his head to his own shoulder so Gavin could sit up.

“I was worried he’d self-destruct or something. He’s really shaken.” Gavin muttered, eyes fixed on Matthew. “Richard basically died in his arms.”

“Thanks, Gavin…” Connor whispered, brushing his hand over his fiance’s face softly, smiling as Matthew’s LED changed to yellow.

“Why’d the kid take his pump out?” Hank asked. 

“I think he stressed out… I don’t know. Math said he didn’t monitor his stress levels.”

“So… this is it? He’s gotta be an adult?”

“He said he threw his pump away so he wouldn’t change his mind.” Gavin muttered.

“About becoming adult again?” Hank asked. Gavin nodded.

“He ran away because he didn’t want to be an adult again. He said he was scared we wouldn’t like him anymore. I told him if he wanted to stay a kid I’d adopt him and we could live like we were and he just took his pump out…”

“You offered to adopt him?” Hank asked. “You? Gavin Reed who never wanted a kid of his own? No wonder he threw his pump away!”

“You what?!”

“No! Not like that, I just mean… You gave him that little bit of proof he needed to help him believe you love him and won’t ditch him after all this. Perhaps this wasn’t stress. Perhaps he… decided he wanted to be an adult and chucked it away before he could doubt himself.”

“Whatever it was, his child model can’t be used anymore. Apparently, they ‘die’ if their pump is removed for too long.”

“Excuse me…?” Everyone, albeit Matthew, looked up to see Chloe at the door. “Elijah says Richard is ready to be woken.”

“Thank fuck…” Gavin stood. Connor gently shook his fiance awake, brushing Matthew’s hair back when he startled awake with a whimper.

“It’s okay, we’re gonna go see Richard…” Connor whispered. “We’re gonna wake him up.”

“O-okay…”

* * *

Elijah forced a smile as Chloe guided them into the lab, where Richard’s RK900 model lay on the table.

“I’m just about to wake him.” Elijah twiddled a bio-component in his hands, twisting it between his fingers. “I thought you’d wanna be here.”

“Thanks, ‘Lijah…” Gavin muttered. Elijah nodded and crouched down, inserting the final bio-component. Richard woke with a gasp, blinking up at the ceiling before sitting himself up, LED flashing yellow.

“Hi, Richard.” Elijah smiled. “Do you recognise me?”

“Elijah Kamski.” Richard whispered.

“And them?” Elijah indicated to the four on the other side of the room. Richard turned to look.

“My family…” Richard blinked, LED flickering blue. “Gavin…”

“Hey, Rich.” Gavin couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face as he stepped forward, allowing Richard to pull him into his arms and kiss him passionately. Gavin moaned, grabbing Richard’s jacket with longing before pulling away. 

Then he punched him in the chest.

“That’s for chucking your pump into the fuc- fricking river!” Gavin cried as Richard rubbed his chest, his LED red. “I’m fricking cold and Matthew’s fricking traumatized!”

“I am fine.” Matthew whispered. Richard left Gavin’s side, approaching Matthew carefully.

“I’m sorry.” Richard whispered, bringing his hand to the thirium handprint on Matthew’s shirt. “I didn’t want to change my mind.”

“I am just glad you are still here.” Matthew breathed, pulling Richard in for a hug. Richard hugged him back, gripping him tight as he took in the fact that Matthew wasn’t upset or angry or trying to leave. “I still love you, okay?” Matthew whispered. Richard nodded.

“I love you too.” Richard pulled away, flashing a small smile at the android.

“Brother!” Richard gasped as Connor threw himself at him, knocking them both to the ground. “I’m so happy you’re okay! Don’t you ever do that again!”

“I don’t intend to.” Richard chuckled, hugging Connor back. Connor eventually scrambled off Richard, pulling him up. Richard chuckled slightly before turning to Hank.

“Hank… I-”

“What, just because you ain’t a kid anymore, suddenly I stop being Papa?” Hank asked, cupping the back of Richard’s head and pulling him to his chest. Richard clung to him.

“Papa?”

“That’s right, kid. Nothing changes that.” Hank whispered. Richard nodded, burying his face in Hank’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” Richard whispered.

“Doesn’t matter now.” Gavin smiled. “You’re here, and it’s gonna be okay.”

Richard believed him.

* * *

_ “Hey Richard?” _

_ “Yes, Gavin?” _

_ “The floor is lava.” _

_ “Ha! I have the high ground! Wait… How am I…?” _

_ “You were an imaginative kid. I didn’t wanna take that from you so… I asked Elijah for a favour.” _

_ “You… did that for me?”  _

_ “Course I did.” _

_ “Thank you…” _

_ “Oh, Jesus, don’t cry on me… Come here… Daft sod.” _


End file.
